Haiti became the world's first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state when it threw off French colonial control and slavery in a series of wars in the early 19th century.
However, decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas.
A mostly mountainous country with a tropical climate, Haiti's location, history and culture - epitomised by voodoo - once made it a potential tourist hot spot, but instability and violence, especially since the 1980s, have severely dented that prospect.
Haiti achieved notoriety during the brutal dictatorships of the voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc". Tens of thousands of people were killed under their 29-year rule.
Hopes that the election in 1990 of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest, would herald a brighter future were dashed when he was overthrown by the military a short time later.
Although economic sanctions and US-led military intervention forced a return to constitutional government in 1994, Haiti's fortunes did not pick up, with allegations of electoral irregularities, ongoing extra-judicial killings, torture and brutality.
A bloody rebellion, and pressure from the US and France, forced Mr Aristide out of the country in 2004.
Since then, an elected leadership has taken over from an interim government and a UN stabilisation force has been deployed. But Haiti is still plagued by violent confrontations between rival gangs and political groups and the UN has described the human rights situation as "catastrophic".
Meanwhile, Haiti's most serious underlying social problem, the huge wealth gap between the impoverished Creole-speaking black majority and the French-speaking minority, 1% of whom own nearly half the country's wealth, remains unaddressed.
1770 - Earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince 1842 - Quake destroys Cap-Haitien, other cities 1954 - Hurricane Hazel kills hundreds 1963 - Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Haiti and Cuba1994 - Hurricane Gordon kills hundreds 1998 - Hurricane Georges destroys 80% of crops 2004 - Tropical Storm Jeanne kills 1,900 2007 - Tropical Storm Noel triggers mudslides, floods 2008 - Three hurricanes and tropical storm kill 800 2010 - Quake hits Port-au-Prince, killing tens of thousands. Cholera outbreak kills more than 2,500 Sources: AP, US Geological SurveyMany Haitians seek work and a better life in the US or other Caribbean nations, including the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants.
Furthermore, the infrastructure has all but collapsed and drug trafficking has corrupted the judicial system and the police.
Haiti is also ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath of the tropical storms that frequently sweep across the island, with severe deforestation having left it vulnerable to flooding. It also lies in a region prone to earthquakes.
Natural disaster struck with full force early in 2010, when the capital Port-au-Prince was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake - the country's worst in 200 years. Tens of thousands of people were killed and much of the capital and its wider area devastated, prompting a major international aid effort.
Ten months later, with the country still struggling to recover from the earthquake, an outbreak of cholera added to Haiti's woes.
Full name: Republic of Haiti Population: 10.2 million (UN, 2010) Capital: Port-au-Prince Area: 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq miles) Major languages: Creole, French Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 60 years (men), 64 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 gourde = 100 centimes Main exports: Light manufactures, coffee, oils, mangoes GNI per capita: Estimated to be low income: $995 or less (World Bank, 2009) Internet domain: .ht International dialling code: +509President: Michel Martelly
Michel Martelly, who first made his name on the Haitian music scene, was inaugurated as president in May 2011 after winning 68% of votes in the second round of the presidential election in March.
Mr Martelly was known for his charismatic performances in his previous career as a singerThe flamboyant musician, who is said to have acquired his stage name of "Sweet Micky" in the 1980s while performing in clubs, is a relative political novice but has extensive experience of appearing in public.
Though he had not held any political office before running for the presidency, he had been politically active, taking part in demonstrations and making clear his opposition to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who returned to the country in March 2011 after seven years of exile in South Africa.
Mr Martelly's immediate predecessor, Rene Preval, had been an ally of Mr Aristide, Haiti's first democratically-elected president, who was forced out of office in 2004.
Mr Martelly's pledge to rebuild a country still reeling from the after-effects of the devastating January 2010 earthquake appealed to the poor and unemployed, and he became especially popular with younger voters.
The son of an oil company executive, Mr Martelly first enjoyed popular success as a singer of the Haitian dance music known as compas.
He was educated at a prestigious Roman Catholic school in Port-au-Prince and attended junior colleges in the US, though he never graduated.
As an entertainer, he was noted for his flamboyant style - he often wore costumes and wigs - and his stage antics.
Both music and politics appear to run in the family. Mr Martelly's grandfather, Auguste "Kandjo" de Pradines, was a French singer who used his talent to protest against the US military occupation of 1915-1934.
Prime Minister: Jean-Max Bellerive
Jean-Max Bellerive was appointed premier by President Preval in October 2009 after the sacking of the government headed by Michelle Pierre-Louis, who had held the post for just over a year.
Jean-Max Bellerive previously served as planning ministerHaiti's Senate had voted to dissolve Ms Pierre-Louis' cabinet amid a power struggle that threatened to undermine efforts to attract foreign investment to the country.
The senators who pushed through a censure motion against Ms Pierre-Louis accused her of failing to make sufficient progress in setting Haiti on the path to economic recovery.
Mr Bellerive trained as an economist and has long experience in public administration. He has held a variety of government posts, and was an official in the administration of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
As minister of planning and external cooperation under Ms Pierre-Louis, he played an important role in courting foreign investors.
Radio is Haiti's most important information medium; access to the press is limited by low literacy levels.
There are more than 250 private radio stations, with around 50 FM broadcasters in the capital alone, providing a full spectrum of political views. But self-censorship is common, with journalists trying to avoid offending commercial sponsors or politicians.
The media rights body Reporters Without Borders said press freedom improved "dramatically" after the fall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The organisation had put the former president on its list of "predators of press freedom".
But it warned in 2007 that impunity for attacks on media workers could continue in the absence of an effective justice system.
Amid the escalating violence in early 2004, radio and TV stations were targeted by gangs from both sides of the political divide. Studios and transmitters were destroyed.
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